The weed legalization movement continues to face some pressing questions. One of them is how legalization affects other states that have not made weed legal. A review of recent activity highlights one possible effect. In particular, weed busts across the US point to smuggling from legal states.

A Common Anti-Weed Argument

It’s not unusual for anti-weed lawmakers and pundits to claim that legalization in one place creates an influx of illegal weed in other places. In fact, this is exactly what Nebraska and Oklahoma said was happening in a lawsuit they filed back in 2015.

In that suit, the states said that Colorado’s legal weed was spilling over into neighboring states. They claimed that people were growing weed legally in Colorado and then smuggling it illegally into Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The suit became an important legal decision. In particular, it forced the federal government to take a stance on the controversy.

Under President Obama, the federal government sided with Colorado. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, Jr. said that if the federal government or the Supreme Court sided with Nebraska and Oklahoma, it would be an overreach of federal authority.

Nick is a Green Rush Daily staff writer from Fort Collins, Colorado. He has been at the epicenter of the cannabis boom from the beginning. He holds a Masters in English Literature and a Ph.D. in cannabis (figuratively of course).